RAF St. Athan: Welsh Language

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate his Department has made of the costs for contractors working on the defence training establishment proposed for St. Athan of providing all their services bilingually under the terms of the Welsh Language Legislative Competence Order.

Bob Ainsworth: No estimate has been made by the MOD of potential bilingual costs. The costs for contractors are a responsibility of the Metrix Consortium as developer of the Defence Technical Academy on the St. Athan site.
	The Department has a Welsh Language Scheme and in the conduct of its business with the public in Wales treats the English and Welsh languages on a basis of equality.

SERCO

Robert Flello: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the value was of his Department's contracts held with SERCO in each of the last five financial years.

Bob Ainsworth: The value of contracts with SERCO Group PLC, in terms of spend, in each of the last five financial years was as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 2003-04 244 
			 2004-05 361 
			 2005-06 431 
			 2006-07 433 
			 2007-08 763 
		
	
	The figures are shown exclusive of VAT rounded to the nearest million. They exclude any contracts placed by MOD Trading Funds or by British Defence staff (Washington) and low-value purchase transactions, for which records are not held centrally.

Members: Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, dated 9 October 2008, on the engagement of his Department's offices in Uganda with the Kingdom of Bunyoro Kitara.

Ivan Lewis: A reply to my right hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Ladywood has been issued.

Palestinians: Health Services

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent assessment has been made of the availability of medicines and medical supplies in Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The United Nations reports that many medicines and medical supplies are generally available. However there are critical shortages of, for example, certain anaesthetics and essential medical equipment such as defibrillators and syringe pumps.
	Gaza's health infrastructure has long been under severe strain due to the restrictions on access for people, commercial goods and humanitarian supplies Going forward repairing and maintaining health facilities will be a priority. Frequent power cuts and subsequent reliance on generators increases the risk of damaging medicines that need consistent temperature regulation, as well as of harming patients dependent on medical equipment in intensive care. The conflict has exacerbated all these problems as restrictions on Gaza's borders have been further tightened.
	The UK Government have repeatedly raised the issue of allowing enough humanitarian supplies and fuel into Gaza with the Israeli Government. We are also supporting organisations that provide direct medical treatment to the sick and injured such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). UNRWA has 18 health centres in Gaza and ICRC's medical teams were among the first to be allowed in during the conflict.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

William Hague: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the Israeli authorities to ensure continuous access for humanitarian relief into Gaza; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: As a priority, the UK Government continue to press the Israeli Government to allow full, unhindered and consistent access for humanitarian supplies into Gaza. The Department for International Development Under-Secretary of State Mike Foster discussed this issue with Israeli Minister of Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog during his visit to the region on 19 January 2009. The Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary have also consistently pressed UK concerns with Prime Minister Olmert the Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni respectively.
	The UK welcomes the recent letter from the European Union to the Israeli Government expressing these concerns and calling for
	"all humanitarian items to be allowed automatic entry to the Gaza strip".